Disney favorite Buzz Lightyear blasted to infinity and beyond recently aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, which soared toward the International Space Station from Kennedy Space Center in a picture perfect late afternoon launch on Saturday, May 31. The much-loved Space Ranger is spending several months at the Space Station as part of the NASA’s “Toys In Space” educational program.

Buzz’s fellow Toy Story companion Woody was on hand at the Kennedy Space Center when the Shuttle Discovery blasted Buzz back into the sky, but space travel wasn’t the only exciting news at the Walt Disney World Resort. Woody also took the opportunity to begin celebrating the official opening of the Toy Story Mania! attraction, which opened to guests at Disney Hollywood Studios on May 31.

“Toys in Space” is part of the “Space Ranger Education Series,” an effort by NASA to make studying science, technology and math (the STEM subjects) more fun and appealing to young students. Buzz’s trip “beyond” is meant to enhance the program developed by NASA and Disney to make space travel more accessible to school kids. “Toys in Space” offers downloadable classroom materials and online learning games to help teachers create a fun atmosphere in which to teach student about space and technology.

Buzz will be floating around at the ISS for several months, and during his stay he will be conducting experiments in zero gravity as well as appearing in video downlinks from the Space Station. There will no doubt be another space-tastic celebration when Buzz Lightyear makes his return trip back to earth.

Kennedy Space Center is open to the public, and you can get a close-up look by getting a Kennedy Space Center ticket right here at OrlandoFunTickets.com. We are the number one source on earth for cheap Orlando attraction tickets, and we can get you into Kennedy Space Center and Walt Disney World with just a couple of clicks.

If you want to see a space shuttle launch for yourself, there are two more space shuttle launches scheduled for this year at Kennedy Space Center. The Shuttle Atlantis is on the calendar for an October 8 launch, and the Shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to blast off on October 16. A Kennedy Space Center ticket is not required to view a space shuttle launch, as there are many amazing viewing sites close to the Kennedy Space Center campus.

Labels: Discount Disney Tickets, Kennedy Space Center, New attractions, shuttle launch